Family drops lawsuit against doctor

STOCKTON - Dr. Cleveland Enmon, found not guilty by a jury of stealing a deceased patient's Rolex, won't face a lawsuit from the patient's family.

Scott Smith

STOCKTON - Dr. Cleveland Enmon, found not guilty by a jury of stealing a deceased patient's Rolex, won't face a lawsuit from the patient's family.

The children who had alleged that the emergency room doctor let their father die from a heart attack to steal the watch are asking to drop the lawsuit.

Jurors last month found Enmon not guilty of felony grand theft. He had been accused of stealing the watch June 1 after he pronounced Jerry Kubena dead at St. Joseph's Medical Center.

But Enmon, 32, isn't clear of troubles just yet.

The California Medical Board has launched an investigation into Enmon on suspicion that he illegally prescribed himself a stimulant drug two days before the watch temporarily vanished, court papers show.

The ongoing probe was revealed in transcripts of a hearing in the judge's chambers during the doctor's criminal trial. California Deputy Attorney General Robert Miller confirmed the investigation but declined to offer details.

According to the transcript, Enmon stands accused of prescribing himself Apidex, a controlled diet pill often abused by those who need help staying awake and alert. Enmon told the judge he didn't write himself the prescription.

"This signature is not - this is not mine," Enmon said during the hearing. "I never used this here. I never used Apidex before."

In the criminal case, Enmon was accused of taking the $6,500 gold Rolex belonging to Kubena, 61, a retired Manteca police lieutenant. That jury trial ended with the March 24 acquittal.

Jurors of the watch case never heard about the drug allegation. San Joaquin County Chief Deputy Public Defender Miriam Lyell, who represented Enmon, convinced Judge K. Peter Saiers that it was be-yond the scope of the theft charge.

Sold under the brand name of Phentermine, Apidex is a Schedule 4 synthetic amphetamine that offers short-term aid in weight loss by suppressing hunger cravings, said Charlie Green, owner of Stockton's Green Brothers Pharmacies, who is not part of Enmon's investigation.

It also is potentially abused by the likes of students who want to stay alert for all-night study sessions, long-distance truckers fighting off the yawns or perhaps emergency room doctors working all night, Green said.

"That's not what it's developed for," he said.

It is against the law in California for doctors to prescribe themselves controlled substances such as Apidex.

Green said that any doctor who comes into his pharmacy with such a prescription for him or herself will receive a polite yet firm response, Green said.

"Sorry, Doc, you can't do that," he said. "We just don't let it happen."

Enmon could not be reached for comment after repeated calls. Lyell, the defense attorney who won Enmon's acquittal in the watch case, commented only that the alleged self prescription remains an accusation.

Kat Todd-Schwartz, the attorney who represented Enmon in the wrongful death case, said that Kubena's children - Jerry Kubena Jr. and Karie Nelson - have stated that they plan to dismiss the wrongful death lawsuit, but paperwork has yet to be filed.

Stockton attorneys Michael Babitzke and Jeffrey Silvia, who represented Kubena's children, filed the initial suit in the San Francisco Superior Court. The suit also accused St. Joseph's of covering up the alleged theft. The case is set for a May 20 hearing.